California to cover canal with solar panels in experiment to fight drought, climate change

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

HICKMAN, Calif. (Reuters) - California is about to launch an experiment to cover aqueducts with solar panels, a plan that if scaled up might save billions of gallons of otherwise evaporated water while powering millions of homes.

Project Nexus in the Turlock Irrigation District launches in mid-October amid Western North America's worst drought in 1,200 years and as human-influenced climate change exacerbates the dry spell.

The $20 million project, funded by the state, is due to break ground in two locations. One is a 500-foot (152-meter or about 0.3-mile) span along a curved portion of the canal in the town of Hickman, about 100 miles (160 km) inland from San Francisco. The other is a mile-long (1.6-km long) straightaway in nearby Ceres.

Based on a similar project in the west Indian state of Gujarat, the project is the first of its kind in the United States, said University of California Merced project scientist Brandi McKuin. The Turlock project was inspired by a research paper McKuin published in 2021.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/california-cover-canal-solar-panels-100334990.html

[hunter]

1. Solar power and water projects are a good mix...

... especially in places like California where water has to be pumped uphill and over mountains.

Water can be pumped up to higher elevation reservoirs when the sun is shining. When the sun is not shining water can be released to lower elevation reservoirs, generating electricity.

Here's another article:

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/california-is-about-to-test-its-first-solar-canals-180979637/

People often talk about solar power in connection with desalinization but that's not a good mix.

Desalinization is best run as a continuous process, night day and night. Intermittent operation of desalinization plants significantly increases the cost of water that is already very expensive.

Nuclear power and desalinization is a good mix since nuclear power plants run continuously.

Burning fossil fuels to desalinate water is insane, since fossil fuels got us into this mess and will only make the problem worse.

[Kablooie]

2. Glad they are finally doing this.

I thought that might be a good idea several years ago.
All the canals right now are open for hundreds of miles so must lose a lot of water to evaporation.
It's wasted space otherwise.
In LA they are beginning to build covered reservoirs. I haven't heard about them using solar panels but it could be another option.